The Choice
Aniah
A XWP fanfiction
Yo! This be my first XWP fanfic,
and I'm really hyped about it. Based on
the eps "Revealations" and "Livia" Enjoy! mailto:[email protected]
*
* Xena's POV* * *
We
glared at each other. Eve, or Livia, was standing to the side, breastplate
heaving after fighting with me. Ares' eyes were burning with something…I
refused to name the emotion. "Here's the deal, Xena." Everything around us
began whirling, leaving me and him in the center of the vortex. Time had
stopped.
I
was still in fight stance, sword drawn. "You give me a child, the Olympians
never need know who Livia really is." I restrained myself from retching. You corrupted her. Played her. Trained her
like me, and she was no longer Eve. I looked Ares straight in his black
eyes.
"I
would rather rot in hell." In a second he had me by the shoulders, that almost
passive look on his face gone to a rage only the Gods could possess. I did not
look away.
"I'm
not asking, bitch! You give me what I want or your little Eve will be hunted by
all of my relations!" I stepped back, holding my sword by two hands.
"The
thought makes me sick," I spat at his boots. Ares raised a fist, like he would
strike me, and was gone. Time resumed at it's normal pace. I blocked Livia.
Gabrielle, Joxer, and Virgil were fending off her men. I threw the sword at her
feet. "I don't want to fight," my daughter gave a roar of rage and leapt onto
her mount. The other Roman soldiers followed suit, and were gone.
I
went back to the group. Virgil and his father scoured the gutted village for
any living soul. There were none. "They'll be heading to the Temple of Eli," I
guessed. "We'll move quickly." We left the ruined place behind us.
*
* *
"MY_NAME_IS_LIVIA!"
She shouted. Parry. Parry. Thrust. Thrust. Out of the corner of my eye I saw
Gabrielle deal a stunning blow to a Roman captain. A strange, yet familiar
feeling coursed through my gut.
"So,
Xena, how does it feel to know that the one you love despises you?" My daughter
and I looked up at Ares' voice. With a vicious thrust I threw my sword into the
earthen ground.
"All…right,"
I breathed, knowing that everyone's eyes were on me. "If you get Livia to the
Baptist I'll go with you." Supressing emotions that threatened to explode
outward, I went and got astride Argo II.
"Xena!
Don't you know what you just did?!" Gabrielle was amazed. Joxer, dragging his
sword, was too out of breath to say anything. Virgil was silent.
"It
would be her sacrifice, or mine," was all I would say. We made camp outside the
small village where the Baptist lived. After everyone was in their bedrolls, I
slipped away on the pretense of using the latrine. "C'mon out," I demanded. The
sound of the forest at night greeted my ears. The moon was full, and it was
almost bright as day.
"What
say we go somewhere more, civilized?" The God of War wheedled. 'We've got all
the time in the world. Your friends, over there, will be sleeping for at least
10 hours, and Livia is safe with…a mutual friend." Ares grabbed my arm and we
were transported to his mountain fortress. With pride he showed me the master
bedchamber, hung with scarlet, black, scenes depicting the Trojan War and some
Roman scenes. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked around critically.
"It
needs a woman's touch," I commented. THEN I noticed the absence of my chakram
and sword. He must've noticed the change in my posture, because he put a
caressing arm around my shoulder. I shrugged it off. "Why did you
choose---Livia as your protégé?" I had almost called her Eve. My name is LIVIA! My daughter's roar
reverberated through my head.
"You
were dead. She was the best with a sword since you, or better! But I mourned
for you every_single_day of the first mortal decade you were gone. Then it was
time to move on. I needed someone else to train." I turned my back on him, and
looked out at the silent mountainous night. Ares slipped the straps of my woven
slip off of my shoulders, till it was pooled at my feet. A gown, deep emerald green,
was slipped around my shoulders and buttoned up. He waved a gauntlet covered
arm and a mirror hung in front of us. I stifled the familiar urge to elbow the
God. His mouth was practically hanging open. I pulled him onto the pile of
fur-covered cushions that served him as a bed…
*
* THIRD PERSON* * *
This…is bliss. The God of War thought
dreamily, his arms around his princess's waist, her rhythmatic breathing like a
lullabye. Carefully dislodging himself from the sleeping Xena, he vaulted
himself out of their little nest and poured two goblets of watered down wine.
Summoning a cloth-covered basket, he bit into a tart green apple. But paradise never lasts, he chided
himself. Just then, the sun rose, and Helios drew his chariot across the
eastern sky with all his muted glory. Ares dressed, and Xena stirred. "Good
morning," he smiled, and took another bite of the apple.
Xena
stretched like a mountain cat, and took a pear from the fruit bowl. She stared
at it for a minute, and took a bite. "I'm going back, you know." Ares' eyes
darkened. "You won't stop me. We have a deal." He absently threw the core of
the apple over his shoulder, where it vanished.
"I
won't. But what makes you think you'll be roaming the countryside fighting
after this? How can you guarentee that our child will be safe when you're busy
fighting petty thieves? No, Xena. You'll stay here with me, once you're
satisfied with the condition of Eve's soul. I won't have my heir die by the
hand of your enemy." Eyes widening, Xena backed away and found herself in the
forest glade where she had first gone with Ares. Gabrielle, Joxer, and Virgil
looked up from their breakfast; overcooked eggs a la Joxer.
"That
SON OF A BITCH!" Xena threw her half-eaten pear on the ground. "Blackmailing me
one child for another and then refusing to let me do my living! I swear by
Hestia I wish I had stayed a virgin." The Warrior Princess mounted Argo, and,
with the trio behind her, set off for the villiage where Livia/Eve's salvation
was waiting.
*
* *
so? There IS more to come. Q's?
C's? mailto:[email protected]
